Xi Jinping handed historic third term as China’s president

• China’s leader, Xi Jinping has been elected to a historic third term as president.
• The president’s functions in the Chinese system of governance are mostly ceremonial.
• Last October, he was appointed to both positions at a party congress.

China’s leader, Xi Jinping, has been elected to a historic third term as president by the country’s rubber-stamp legislature.

It comes after a consolidation of power that has elevated Mr. Xi, 69, to China’s most powerful leader in generations.

The president’s functions in the Chinese system of governance are mostly ceremonial.

Mr. Xi wields considerable power as General Secretary of the Communist Party and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC).

Last October, he was appointed to both positions at a party congress.

Confirmation of his third term as president had been widely expected. The appointment of a new premier and other ministers in the coming days is regarded as more important.

The majority of the new appointees are expected to be Xi Jinping supporters. This includes Li Qiang, who is expected to be Mr Xi’s deputy.

Mr. Xi was also re-elected as chairman of the People’s Republic of China‘s CMC on Friday. There are two CMCs in the country, one of which is a party organization and the other a state institution, but their membership is usually the same.

Mr. Xi has solidified his rule as China returns to normalcy following his bruising zero-Covid policy, which has fueled anti-government protests. The country is also dealing with a declining birth rate, which is threatening its economic growth engine.

Ties between Beijing and Washington remain strained, as evidenced by recent allegations that China was spying on the US using balloons.

“Whether a strengthened Xi and increasing centralisation is sufficient to overcome these problems – or perhaps make them worse – is unknown and perhaps not knowable at present,” Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University Singapore, reports.

“In a sense, Xi is betting that centralisation under the party with him at the helm is a solution to these disparate issues,” he said.

The so-called Two Sessions of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) this week will be closely watched because it will provide insight into China’s future direction.

Since Mao Zedong, Chinese leaders have been limited to two terms in office. When Mr. Xi had this restriction lifted in 2018, he became a figure with unprecedented clout since Chairman Mao.

The national legislature also appointed Han Zheng, a 68-year-old former Politburo Standing Committee member, as vice president on Friday.

Because the position’s functions are not fully defined, its importance varies. Chong stated that Mr Xi’s last vice president, Wang Qishan, led Mr Xi’s anti-corruption campaign.

Mr Han is likely to closely follow Mr Xi’s lead and enforce the president’s policies as needed, he added.

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